UCF's running backs will be led by Jimmy Beal, a veteran of nearly 20 years of collegiate coaching.
Most recently at Utah State in 2024, Beal also coached at San Diego State, Montana State (his alma mater), South Dakota State, and Northern Arizona, where he spent nearly a decade. His connection with Scott Frost dates back several years when he regularly attended coaching clinics at Nebraska, laying the foundation for this opportunity to join him in Orlando.
We caught up with Beal at the recent staff media day.
You said you met Scott Frost a few years ago. So when did that connection take place and how did you get to know him?
"Coaching is a circle that looks that big but really is that big. So he actually coached with a guy that I worked with, Robin Pflugrad, at Oregon. We were able to go to Nebraska and do some clinics, study it up and everything like that. One of the coolest things was just being able to fire questions at him. He was awesome.
"Just to see him in the meeting room and all that stuff and really clinic with him in those levels and then just be able to keep that relationship going throughout the years."
So what was it like when you got the call, I guess? How did the process start for you to join him here?
"It was a call that came when I was actually at the grocery store. Next thing you know, (the phone) said Scott Frost. I was like, Coach Frost, what?
"So I answered it, and it was a conversation that I thought was just going to be a nice little five-minute or 10-minute conversation. Next thing you know, it was almost an hour and a half. And it was just reconnecting and really narrowing down this scope of football.
"Our connections have tied in so many different avenues and everything like that. So it really became a conversation about who I am as a person, what I've gone through, things that I've been through with football, and how I've developed and grown over the years.
"And it just kind of sparked from there, and next thing you know, we're doing Zooms, and next thing you know, I'm on a plane."
Obviously you haven't gotten through a full season yet, but just kind of being around him in meetings, mapping out how you want to run spring and run the season, offensive philosophy, how do you think you gel with him and what's impressed you how Frost runs the program?
"Yeah, first I've got to step up my shoe game. He's definitely a shoehead."
He's always got the Jordans, right?
"He's got his shoe game on point. He's a fashionable guy, so I've got to keep the appearance going. But no, his energy is infectious. To see his passion for developing those relationships with the athletes and really letting them know it's bigger than football.
"Being able to see those guys in the hallway and their interaction with Coach Frost. The guys feel comfortable to be able to talk to their head coach... I think that's kind of infectious as far as what the standard of how he wants our program to be ran. He's big on relationships and those guys really being able to trust in what we're doing."
What do you know yet about your running back room? I know you're going to get out on the field before too long in spring ball, but you've got a guy who has a little bit of experience, Myles Montgomery. You've got some younger guys who have been here. What do you like so far about what you've seen?
"I love how eager they are to learn. How eager those guys are ready to be a part of every conversation, every meeting. They're like, 'Hey, Coach, what can we do more?' Those guys really want to be involved.
"And then you see them in the weight room. It's ridiculous. Those guys are just working, working, working, and they take pride in it. They challenge each other. I saw Myles and Stacy (Gage) right there next to each other going battle for battle on squat."
So you like what you've seen in the weight room? I know Coach Duval has been with Frost for a long time. He was here the first time Frost was here. You like what you've been seeing so far and how he's working the guys?
"I'm an old school guy. I mean, it starts in the weight room and it starts in the training room. And those guys are definitely training their butts off. And it's so fun to see that they're like, it's not even their facility. They just can keep going.
"Coach Duval is doing a great job having those guys ready to go and be energetic. It's fun to see."
Coach Frost just joked about this. The season ends in Provo at BYU Thanksgiving weekend. I think he made a comment like we're going to tell the guys, no, it's not going to be cold. It's only a mindset. You've been out west in the mountain states. I know it's a long way to go, but your boys are going to be handling it okay?
"It's cold, no doubt. But we've got so much technology on the sideline nowadays. Those guys will stay warm. And I've got some tricks to be able to make sure there's no issues. But I think it's a mindset with those guys, and I think they'll be ready for that challenge."
Have you coached against some of these Big 12 schools before? Did you play Utah or BYU during your time at Utah State?
"We played Utah last year, actually in Logan. That was cool. It was a fun game in those big atmospheres. It's cool to see those guys being able to say, okay, this is where we're at. And these guys, I'm already seeing that they are ready for every challenge."
I know January is a big recruiting month. Did you have a certain territory, a certain area that they kind of sent you to?
"It was fun because I got to go out to the Tampa area recruiting some high schools out there."
Jeris McIntyre is big out there. I'm sure he was a great resource.
"He was a great resource. He's from there, and Stacy Gage is from that area as well. I think that's a cool thing. I know what Coach Frost wants to do as far as recruiting and be able to recruit the state.
"It's good for us to be able to go in every high school and really know about the players, not just star chasing and really find those guys that are a little bit of the developmental guys who will be a great player here at UCF."
